60 Second Soapbox – Tim Duhamel

?The product I’m excited about at the moment is…
My digital camera. I’m a prosumer photographer and I recently bought the Canon EOS 5D MKII. A brilliant camera. Unfortunately I don’t have enough time to process my pictures in CS4, so I know what to do when I’m retired.

A client I’d like to get my hands on is…
Procter & Gamble. P&G is putting co-creation internally and externally high on the priority list. Different communities have been started up in which a permanent dialogue with the target group is going on. It is not interrogating the consumer, but engaging the consumer. I think working for P&G in this spirit would be very inspiring.

An idea I wish I’d had is…
To be honest, I do not see myself as an inventor. I like to look at the environment and in use others’ ideas to improve what I’m doing.

A campaign that grabbed me recently is…
The “Know the signs” campaign from Heineken. Not that I am in the target group but it’s a fun and very accessible campaign and it shows Heineken taking up its corporate social responsibility. The campaign is not pointing the finger with its photos of burned faces, mashed cars or broken legs, but it is cleverly encouraging young people to be responsible when drinking. The idea for the campaign was based on thorough insights into consumer attitudes…and it has some funny WOM techniques included.

A campaign that needed more research is…
In general I think a lot of campaigns could do with more research. Campaigns rarely maximise the utility delivered towards consumers. By digging into the genuine needs of the target group advertisers can create appealing campaigns that last longer than 30 seconds of attention.

One thing this industry could use more of is…
Respect. On the one hand respect for respondents not to ask them 100 questions, but to offer them an inspiring experience where they can share their real opinions about products and brands and co-create with brands. And respect for the people who work in the industry on the other hand. It is my belief that offering the same inspiring environment towards people working in the industry is uplifting the value of their outcomes and the deliverables to clients.

One thing this industry could use less of is…
Data overload. Too many questions are asked without the outcomes being used. By using well thought through research designs one can focus on the value delivered to our clients: insights and recommendations.

In five years time we’ll all be talking about…
If we still will ask questions of respondents in a unidirectional way. The value of netnography is increasing. Clients’ databases and behavioural data are more and more used in research analyses and the impact of data on recommendations to clients will increase. Moreover consumers want to be involved and future market research will increase long-term participation by consumers. Marketing of the future will be marketing where consumers are engaged in all stages of the process and not only creating engagement at a billboard or after buying a product.

And the one thing never to forget is…
To be passionate about the things you are doing.